Secrets
by TariBella
Summary: Hermione is in France when she decides that she want to try acting. When she goes to Diagon Alley to meet Ron, Harry and Ginny she finds a poster whit exactly what she was searching for! An audition for a roleplay!


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**Secrets in a hidden box**

**Chapter 1: To act or not to act**

The sun was shining in the middle of the sky and the air felt like a hundred degrees. The only bearable place to be today was underneath the big oak tree, in the quiet city park. Hermione had spent almost the past two weeks of her summer vacation sitting under this exact tree, reading books for the next school semester. However, for a couple of days, she had been reading some books she had received from her cousin as well, books about acting. To her big surprise she fell more and more in love with it the more she read about it. She was amazed of all the interesting role-plays that existed out there. Take Romeo & Juliet for instance, which she meant to be the ultimate play about love and sorrow. About two young lovers who cannot be together, because their families are enemies and they see it as a disgrace to find their children longing to be together. No matter what their families think, the young lovers still believe that their love can conquer it all. Romeo experience a love of such purity and passion that he kills himself when he believes that the love of his live, Juliet, has died. One of the worlds most beloved love stories, where the two lovers who die in each other arms, not bearing to live without the other one. Nevertheless, in the end of the story their love is finally united for eternity. Hermione's body filled up with butterflies every time she read this story, which she had done now again and again. Every bone in her body ached to try acting a play like this.

"Are you seriously reading Romeo & Juliet once more?" asked Joey, Hermione's cousin, with whom she had been living with in France for the past two weeks. She squat down in front of Hermione with a wry smile on her face. "It has to be the sixth time or something, don't you ever get sick of it?"

"No, how could I? It is so marvellous, and so romantic." said Hermione in a strange dreamy voice.

Joey rolled her eyes in despair. "When ever did _you _get so hooked on love stories?" she then asked, with a sarcastic tone in her voice. Like it was so unlike her cousin to think of romance that she almost could not believe her own ears.

"What' you say?" Hermione asked, sounding a little absent-minded. She was so caught up by the play, as it was at the point where Romeo kisses Juliet just before he drinks the bottle of poison.

"When did you get so hooked on love-stories like this?" Joey repeated a little louder, and this time without the sarcasm. "I mean, the Hermione who came here only a few weeks ago would much rather read historic facts, than sit here under this big old tree reading sappy love-stories."

"I know," Hermione answered while some shade of red appeared in her cheeks. "Well perhaps I've changed then!" Hermione smiled, and little stars twinkling in her eyes. "And to your information I've just made an important decision…" Joey sat down on her knees on the ground in front of Hermione, looking questioning at her. "I've decided I want to try acting."

"You do?" Joey uttered struggling to hide the scepticism in her voice. "You want to like, play a role like Juliet? Oh, what a cliché ," laughed Joey.

"Well I don't see what's so wrong about that," Hermione answered harshly, getting a grim expression on her face, slamming shut her the book.

"Oh no, for heavens sake, there isn't, but don't you think you've put your goals a little too high? After all…" she sighed, "-you haven't really been much of an actress before? Remember when we acted out Cinderella with my brothers?" Joey said, trying to lead her cousin on other thoughts.

"Don't remind me… Besides, there's no point in mentioning that, cause it was completely different! First of all; I was six years old, my shoes were three sizes too big and your brother stomped on my dress. Every single person on this earth would fall over and make a complete fool of themselves if they were in my large shoes. But things are different now, and I know I can do it. Or at least I know I can learn how too. You're the one who've always said I'm a fast learner. " Her voice was stern, she had decided that nothing Joey said or did could change her mind now; she _was_ going to try acting! Every inch of her body and soul were drawn against it.

"Ah well, when you've put your stubborn mind to something I know I've got no chance changing your mind," Joey said, followed by a long awkward pause between the two of them.

"I did not come all here in this awful heat just to discuss your future as an actress, I was wondering if you wanted to go get something to cold to drink? And maybe…"

"Don't say it…"

"…go shopping with me?" Joey asked very enthusiastic and smiling. 

"I really don't want to..." Hermione answered, twitching her eyebrows.

"Oh, please.. Pretty please would you go shopping with me? I never get to see you anymore. Ever since you attended that fancy boarding school of yours you've been too busy with other friends. Wouldn't it be fun, just you and me out on a shopping spray?"

"Of, fine, I guess my wardrobe _could_ need some freshening up anyways," said Hermione as she took her eyes off of the book and gave a little tricky smile.

"Well… why are we still sitting here then? Lets go shopping!" Joey said very enthusiastic and smiling from cheek to cheek.

At the end of a long day of shopping in the summer heat, Hermione and Joey sat down at the local pizza place, not far away from where Joey lived. They ordered drinks and relaxed, appreciating that the heat had finally cooled down, as the clock had passed eight.

"I'll just take a quick visit to the loo, then we can leave," Joey said giving a little nod against the toilet inside the diner. Hermione used this opportunity to read some more Romeo & Juliet. She got so carried away by the reading that she didn't even notice her cousin standing in front of her again, now with her arms crossed and her foot tapping the ground.

"Hum hum," she said.

"I couldn't help it," Hermione admitted. "It was as if the book called for me. I had to open it. I'm so amazed at how someone can write a story like this." Hermione sighed softly.

"Yeah, I hear you say so, but lets get going, it's getting late," Joey said thinking Hermione must have been too long out in the heat.

As Hermione sat down on her bed back home at her cousins, she heard a wage knock against the window shield. She looked outside, and there she saw a brown little owl, with a piece of parchment wrapped around its leg. She opened the window and gave the owl a treat as she collected the paper round its leg.

_**Dear Hermione,**_

_**I hope everything is going well for you in France. And that you'll find time to come visit us soon. I really miss you, and so do Harry and Ron. They have been nagging on me for days now to send you a letter and ask you to come. **_

_**If you can visit us, and I really hope you do, please send me an owl. You can use Gobi, the little brown one I used to send this letter with.**_

_**Hope to see you very soon.**_

_**Love Ginny**_

"Of course I want to come," Hermione said out load to herself and began to search her room for a piece of parchment and a quill or pen to write with.

_**Dear Ginny,**_

_**I would love to come visit you all, does three days from now sound okay?**_

_**I will just have to find out what plans my parents have for the rest of the vacation. They are still in Africa, as you know I left them there two weeks ago. Say hello to everyone from me.**_

_**I hope to see you all very soon too.**_

_**Love Hermione**_

Hermione sent her parents a letter and they agreed upon her visit to the Weasleys. Three days later Joey drove her to the airport and Hermione arrived in London around ten in the morning the same day. Since all her family in France were muggles, and she had not yet found a way to tell them about her being a witch, she didn't want them to freak out about her disappearing into thin air or through a fireplace, so she thought flying by airplane was the safest way.

She arranged to meet Ginny, Harry and Ron in Diagon Alley around noon, but as she was a little early she decided to visit the bookstore Flourish & Blotts. What Hermione thought was a quick stroll around the store turned out to be about an hour of browsing through dozens of books of all shapes and sizes. Hermione was supposed to meet her friends half an hour ago, they were probably starting to wonder if something had happened to her. She ran out of the store, but stopped by the sight of a big red poster with fat black letters.

"**Do you have what it takes to be an actor or actress? Do you want to be in a thrillingly exciting role-play? Then it is you we are searching for. An audition to this year's most fantastic adventure is cast Friday the 13th in Flourish & Blotts. Show up and you probably, most certainly will get some sort of role in the play…"**

"In Merlin's magical name. That's exactly what I have been looking for," Hermione said quietly to herself, with an ecstatic smile across her face. She looked at her watch again, cursed herself for being late and ran off in a hurry before finish reading the poster. She only made herself a mental note with the date and place before running off, though her mind remained in deep thoughts about auditioning. She bumped into grumpy old witch and quickly found herself back in the real world again. It didn't take long before she saw two of her friends standing outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour; both with a touch of concern in their faces.

"Ron, Harry," Hermione yelled, while waving her arm, running against her friends in a low speed.

"Hermione?" both Ron and Harry blurted surprised, and looked at each other.

"Yes, of course it's me. Did you expect someone else?" she asked them, surprised at how surprised they sounded.

"Well, you of course… It's just that you look so... different... I almost didn't recognise you" Harry admitted as he looked over at Ron and then down at the ground.

"What do you mean different?" she asked him a bit insulted, and turned her glaze over at Ron who's ears got a sudden flaming red colour, then back at Harry who still had his eyes fastened on the ground beneath him.

"Hermione!" Ginny cried out loud as she jumped behind her and gave her a warm hug. "I heard those two knuckleheads from inside the shop. Don't mind them…" she said to her. "You look fine." She dragged Hermione with her and they sat down on a bench across the street. Ginny turned her head and gave the two boys a very dejected look.

"What did they mean, I look different? Don't I look like me?" Hermione asked Ginny, then turning to look at her two other friends again.

"Well. Er, you do, sort of.. but I believe you look like a different you! Have you really not noticed that no boy around can take his eyes of off you?" Ginny said giggling, pointing discreetly at all the boys in the street around them.

"They are?" Hermione asked, surprised and a bit shocked, franticly gazing up and down the street. And in fact, almost every boy was looking at her, including Ron and Harry. Hermione felt her checks redden, and wanted to sink deep into the ground. Boys had never looked at her in that way before. – Well except of the Yule ball in the fourth year, when everyone realized that she in fact _was _a girl, and not some weird creature with books stuck to her eyes, but that still wasn't the same feeling. She was not sure if she liked this feeling or not. She could not possibly have changed that much in less than two months.

Out from Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, a pain filled roar suddenly came flying through the air, and not too long afterwards the same grumpy old witch that Hermione had bumped into, came running out of the shop. The woman leapt angrily past Hermione and Ginny. "Stupid fat kid," she yelled before stopping to wave her wand, threatening, high up in the air, against the shop she came from.

"What do you think all that fuss was about?" Ginny asked Hermione, very eager to go check what happened.

"I don't know, but I most certainly want to find out," she answered, sharing the same thought. The two girls ran against the shop, followed closely by Harry and Ron running after. They found a boy from their own house Gryffindor, and asked him what had happened. The boy was laughing so hard he had to hang on to Harry's shoulder not to collapse to the floor.

"You… you should have seen it," he squeezed through his laugh. "It's–the-funniest… Crabbe was trying to eat a chocolate frog... when it suddenly… _jumped _into that old witch's hair, which turned out to be and wig... The wig fell off… and the witch cast a spell on Crabbe so that frogs flew out of his mouth… and then she stepped on his foot, making him jump around on one foot… with frogs flying out of his mouth!"

"I would be careful with whose back I laughed behind if _I _were you!" said a unforgiving voice behind the boy.

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